Proud Boy Tusitala ‘Tiny’ Toese sentenced to 8 years for violence at Portland rallies

A judge on Friday sentenced Proud Boy Tusitala “Tiny” Toese to 95 months in prison, almost two years after violent clashes with Portland anti-fascists in August 2021.

Toese, 27, had been a notoriously violent attendee at far-right rallies. He was charged in January 2022 with five counts of assault, including assault with a weapon, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of riot and two counts of criminal mischief. He was acquitted of one of the assault charges.

A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge found him guilty of those charges in March of this year. He was charged in relation to a political rally held in the parking lot of a former Kmart. Toese was one of the “primary organizers” of the rally, according to an affidavit filed by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office in March 2022. He acted as an emcee for the event, introducing speakers and delivering speeches of his own, court documents say.

There were several clashes at the rally, including one in which Toese directed a group of far-right protesters to physically attack someone in a pickup truck under the belief that the driver was an anti-fascist counterprotester, the affidavit says. Members of his group began breaking out windows, popping tires and attacking the driver.

Toese’s defense attorney, Drake Durham, said he thought the sentence should have been shorter.

“I was upset with the length of sentence my client received based on the conduct that the state alleged during that incident, in that he was never seen assaulting anyone or hurting anyone,” Durham said.

Toese first faced criminal charges for similar behavior in 2017, when he punched a counterprotester in the face, unprovoked. He pleaded guilty to harassment and was placed on probation.

He was also charged with assault in 2018 but fled to American Samoa. Upon his return to Portland, he was placed on probation again, though he failed to comply with the terms of the probation.